Reviews by MeneerBeerSnob:

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Pours a medium brown with orange tint with a nice creamy looking head that leaves a nice sheet of lace behind,bid phenolic smoky/spicey aromas with a touch of bubblegum.Flavors are quite yeasty and spiced,cinnamon and cloves with some plum and lingering smokiness in the finish.Very yeasty but bot overpowering in the spiciness even a little soft,well made and enjoyable and quite quaffable for the alc%.

Appearance - This one poured a dirty brown in color with a nice, moderate head that left some nice Belgian lacing on the inside of my Chimay glass.

Smell - The rich, buttery malts dominate this nose. I can pick up a bit of chocolate and maybe some gooey kind of sweets like toffee from a Heath bar.

Taste - The chocolate turns very bitter at the taste. Otherwise, the tongue reflects the nose. It's the rich, buttery toasted malt that stands out.

Mouthfeel - This ale is a bit bigger than medium-bodied with some decent carbonation.

Drinkability - This is a "wow" beer that really wakes you up on the first sip. It's a bit rough around the edges, which I like but isn't for everyone. It's probably a good cellaring candidate but enjoyable as is.

Update - I missed the '06-'09 vintages but had a chance to try the 2010. It has mellowed a lot over the iterations and I noticed that the ABV went down from 9.0 to 8.0. It lost a lot of the harsh character that I noted five years ago which is great although I though this year's effort lacked proper carbonation for the style. All in all still a very good beer.

Spotty thin head with dotted carbonation and a dark amber body. Rummy, with raison and dates. Rather vinous at the base with a slick fruity middle, and warming spicy finish. Medium but rich bodied. Rather strong in the alcohol department and therefore quite warming. Leaves a candied sugar sweetness lingering long after each sip. Decent but barely justifiable of the price. Cool bottle and story though.

Bottled on 04-16-04. Pours from the bottle a tantilizing deep amber red with a nice off white head...mmm. The smell here is a mix of fresh baked banana bread, candied fruit and caramel sweetness. It's good for the nose.

First swig hits home with a big caramel malt upfront swirling with banana bread, candied fruity sweetness and spice. A bit of the horse blanket comes through from the yeast...overall a worthy example of the style.

Mouthfeel is richly creamy and chewy...body is lovely. Drinkability is damn good as well. A tasty, complex dubbel brewed in the USA and by Goose Island no less....makes me proud to be from Chicago :-). Definetly worth a try and a bit of age does it some good!

O - This has a lot going on with the nose and flavor profile. These are mostly good things. The alcohol come through nicely in both the aroma and taste and balances out everything else that is going on.

Presentation: It was poured from a brown 12oz bottle into a tulip glass. The bottle reads Pere Jacques 2009 and it also has a "bottled on" date of 10/05/09.

Appearance: The pour only produces a small off white head which fades out quickly leaving a rich reddish amber liquid naked and exposed. Only a thing ring of lace remains around the edge of the glass. This lacing is slick and sides down the glass as I drink leaving nothing behind.

Smell: Its aroma is very sweet, estery and malty. It is a touch phenolic and boozy as well with nice notes of caramel malt, over ripe fruit, sweet bready yeast and raw sugar.

Taste/Palate: To start there is a very sweet rich malty and boozy brandy-like base full of caramel, brown sugar or Belgian candied sugar like notes. From there each sip reveals a different estery, fruity, or phenolic flavor note like sweet red apples, peach, apricot, and pear. On to the finish, and now I get leafy hop spice and mild bitterness moving in. Overall though, it remains well on the sweet boozy side in the finish. On the palate it has a medium to full body with a slick sticky texture.

Notes: This is a very interesting and complex beer which I think was still a bit young and could use some time to age.

Nice frothy head atop a mahogney base. Good lacing. Dried fruit, sugars, a nice blend of spices in the nose. Alcohol is still very up front though. Some burnt sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, pepper, and light bitterness across my tongue. Medium body. Lingering burn

Interesting label for a Goose Island, which tells the story of a visit to a Belgian brewry, where the Abbot, Pere Jacques, let the brewmaster and his friends inside for a tour and a meal of roast duck and wild boar, served with many fine ales, of course. This pours into a goblet a cloudy peach/orange body, with a respectable, tan head that rises to 2 cm, and looks very Belgian. A thick, foam collar is left behind along with some fine sheet lacing.

Aroma begins with apples and cinnamon, powdered with brown sugar. Vinous alcohol is not disguised. Sweet maltiness eventually becomes a bit cloying, especially at room temperature. There is a prominent, Belgian spiciness all the way through, but it does little to moderate the cloying sweetness toward the end.

Overall, a nice effort from an excellent brewery. This ale will probably improve with some age.

12 ounce bottle, label tells me the bottled on date and that this one will improve for 5 years..Good news, but his particular bottle wont last more then 20 minutes...pours medium almond and semi cloudy with a decent amount of floating yeasty sediment. Minor white head and nondescript lacing. Nose is fruity, raisiny, yeasty and quite Belgian in nature. Smooth mouthfeel, very drinkable heady, complex Belgian styled brew. More raisins, yeast, and cookies, alcohol well hidden in the flavorful background. Nicely crafted ale, well worth a try.